Ask a room full of bookworms what book changed their life when they were young, and you’ll get pensive expressions. Then, their faces light up.

asked that question during a live show in Calgary’s Memorial Park Library on Sunday as part of the annual literary festival Wordfest . We got dozens of responses about how certain books made people ask questions, find courage and comfort.

Ellen Story Pegg's pick was a simple children's picture book: by Patricia Scarry. It means so much, it still has a place on the 70-year-old's bookshelf.

She grew up in the “outback” near Borden, Sask. — just her and her parents. She was just beginning to feel like her life was different from everyone else’s when she got , which tells the story of a young bear (dressed and talking like a human) who lives in

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